Irish PM DESTROYS & ATTACKS Trump's Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric By Giving Pro-Immigrant Speech

Irish PM DESTROYS & ATTACKS Trump's Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric By Giving Pro-Immigrant Speech

It’s fitting that we get together here each year to celebrate St. Patrick and his legacy. He too, of course, was an immigrant. And though he is, of course, the patron saint of Ireland, for many people around the globe he’s aloud the symbol of, indeed the patron of immigrants. Here in America, in your great country, 35 million people claim Irish heritage, and the Irish have contributed to the economic, social and political of cultural life of this great country for the last 200 years. Ireland came to America, because of deprived liberty, deprived of opportunity, of safety — of even food itself the Irish believed and four decades before Lady Liberty lifted her lamp, we were the wretched refuse on the teeming shore. We believed in the shelter of America, in the compassion of America, in the opportunity of America, we came and we became Americans. We lived the words of John F. Kennedy, long before he uttered him. We asked not what America could do for us, but what we could do for American — and we still do. Trump’s face? Not so smug now. This was an international slam by a world leader. Thank you, Prime Minister Enda Kenny. And that’s a big thank you, not only for telling Donald Trump what time it is, with him standing right there, but also for helping this country and the world remember what America truly stands for. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny caused a stir at the White House on the eve of Saint Patrick's day Friday, pointedly telling President Donald Trump that the festival is in honor of an immigrant. Before a sea of green-clad revelers in the East Room of the White House Thursday night, Kenny made a pointed reference to controversies over Trump's immigration policies, as the president looked on.

"It's fitting that we gather here each year to celebrate St. Patrick and his legacy. He, too, of course, was an immigrant," Kenny said.Ireland’s softly-spoken Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, is perhaps an unlikely person to lecture the belligerent new US President on his controversial immigration policies. Past meetings in Washington ahead of St Patrick’s Day have seen Mr Kenny stick to friendly jibes about former Vice President Joe Biden’s tendency to waffle, and he once presented Barack Obama with a book of WB Yeats’ poetry. But at this year’s meeting with US President Donald Trump, an unexpected intervention by Mr Kenny about the vast contribution of migrants to the US came as a major departure from form. “There are millions out there who want to play their part for America – if you like, who want to make America great,” he said, giving Mr Trump a pointed look. But Mr Kenny’s dig was not so much targeting the President’s “Muslim travel ban”, as it was about addressing the issue of the US’s large illegal Irish migrant population. Warming to his theme, he added: “I'm always struck by the American national anthem … For us … you say the land of the free and the home of the brave. Our people are as brave as ever but maybe not as free.” Mr Kenny’s speech followed a difficult day for the Trump administration after several judges moved to block his ban on entry to the US for the nationals of six predominantly Muslim countries. At a White House St. Patrick’s Day reception, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny invoked the sentiments of Irish-American President John F. Kennedy to explain why “Ireland came to America.” On Thursday, Kenny and President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence each commemorated St. Patrick’s Day in a ceremony in the East Room. During his remarks, Kenny paid tribute to the Irish immigrants who have come to America and forged a strong bond between the two nations that still exists today: “Mr. President, as a small island on the edge of Europe, a natural bridge between the United States and Europe, and as a committed member of the European Union and a close friend of the United States, we will.

--

Connect With The Host!

- BECOME A MEMBER:

- LIKE MY NEW FACEBOOK PAGE

- CHECK OUT MY ARTICLES:

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PROGRESSIVE VOICE

- FOLLOW THE PROGRESSIVE VOICE ON TWITTER:

- GO TO THE NEW WEBSITE FOR ALL ACCESS